


lay your head down

by afjakwrites



Series: afjak writes flash fanfiction [26]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Carrying, Comfort, Established Relationship, Exhaustion, Fainting, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, M/M, Sickfic, caretaker zuko, theyre in their 20s, trying to hide illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25140547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afjakwrites/pseuds/afjakwrites
Summary: Aang faints and Zuko frets.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: afjak writes flash fanfiction [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619170
Comments: 11
Kudos: 312





	lay your head down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Liepik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liepik/gifts).



> _88\. Bridal carry_
> 
> [Liepik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liepik/pseuds/Liepik) left a great idea on one of my other zukaang fics and i had to write it!! enjoy! <3

By the time they entered their fourth meeting of the day, Aang felt like a zombie. He’d been feeling off since he woke up that morning to do his sunrise meditation, a little tickle in his throat and an odd cloudiness in his head. Knowing that he and Zuko had a full day of meetings (treaty negotiations, visits with various leaders, etc.), Aang thought it best to push through the slight discomfort without mentioning it to his boyfriend. It would only distract Zuko from his duties as the Firelord, and besides, Aang was the Avatar: he was needed just as much as Zuko was. 

So, Aang tried his best to stay alert and helpful. Drowsiness had begun to set in during their very first meeting of the day, a several-hour-long conference to discuss whether or not new housing should be built on a small plot of land that was home to several endangered species. Aang had done his best to stay present, but his mind was far away, continuously wandering back to the soft bed he’d been resting upon hours earlier. 

By their second meeting, Aang was having to pinch himself to stay awake. Zuko noticed his head jerk up a few times and placed a hand on his shoulder, asking his boyfriend if he was okay without words. Aang had only nodded, forcing himself to make conversation despite how loud his voice sounded to his own ears, throbbing against his skull. He felt cold, and knew that he probably looked paler than a ghost. More than anything Aang wanted to take a break and rest, but there was no time. 

Their third meeting of the day began immediately after the second, leaving Aang without a single minute to rest. In the brief moment before their next guests arrived, Zuko began to ask Aang about dinner plans for the evening. Aang answered in a daze, and realized as their next guests were ushered in by a pair of servants that he had no idea what Zuko had suggested they eat, nor his reply. 

Aang’s brain was fried by the time their guests left. He knew he’d been talking throughout the meeting, but couldn’t for the life of him recall anything that had been discussed. He nearly began to cry when Zuko urged him to his feet, already rushing to make their next meeting a few rooms over. Even so, Aang managed to drag himself into the room behind Zuko. To his dismay, there were no chairs in this room. Everyone was standing around a large table, and he was forced to stand at his boyfriend’s side. Zuko reached down and gave Aang’s hand a squeeze, once again fixing him with a worried stare. Aang smiled weakly and squeezed back, though doing so seemed to take a Herculean amount of effort. 

His head was so heavy by now that Aang hardly felt he had the strength to blink. All of the voices in the room were muddled and incomprehensible, as if he was trying to listen to them through a wall. Aang felt as if his head had been stuffed full of cotton; everything was fuzzy and warbled, impossible for his exhausted brain to decipher. He stood mutely at Zuko’s side, straining with the effort of keeping himself on his feet when all his brain wanted him to do was keel over and fall asleep right there on the meeting room floor. 

It wasn’t until Zuko turned to him, placing a sturdy hand on his shoulder, that Aang realized he’d been falling asleep on his feet halfway through the meeting. His eyes snapped open and he gasped, stumbling forward a step before he caught his balance. Everything felt so hazy, Zuko’s amber eyes the only thing grounding him. 

“Aang,” Zuko’s voice was distant and slurred to Aang’s ears, “Lord Fao was asking whether or not you—Aang!” 

Zuko’s shout echoed throughout the room as Aang’s dazed grey eyes rolled back. He swayed on his feet, pitching toward the floor. Alarmed cries rang out as Zuko lunged forward, catching Aang around his middle. Their guests instantly swarmed around Zuko as he dropped to the ground on his knees, laying Aang’s torso over them. He cradled the man’s smooth head in trembling hands, panic setting in at the sight of his boyfriend laying unresponsive in his arms. 

“Is the Avatar alright?!” Cried Lord Fao, peering over Zuko’s shoulder worriedly. 

“I’ll call for a physician!” Exclaimed a servant, already rushing out of the room.

Zuko gave Aang a gentle shake and called his name with a desperate urgency. Slowly, Aang blinked his eyes open. He felt impossibly dizzy and weak, hardly able to focus on the terrified face of his lover.

“S-Sorry,” he mumbled, his voice hoarse and shaky. “I didn’t mean—”

Zuko pulled upward and into a tight embrace before could finish speaking. Aang could feel the quick rise and fall of his boyfriend's chest and the shake of his hands where they cupped his skull and clung to his waist. Aang raised heavy arms and wrapped them around Zuko in return, curling his fingers into the fabric of the man’s robe to prevent his arms from slipping. 

“Don’t scare me like that,” Zuko commanded, though there was no bite to his voice. Without waiting for his boyfriend’s reply he pulled back, sliding a hand down Aang’s thigh to hook at the underside of his knees. 

“‘M fine,” Aang murmured as he was gathered in a bridal carry.

Zuko got to his feet, holding Aang off the ground, with ease. His boyfriend’s feet swung limply, and the arm that wasn’t trapped against Zuko’s chest swayed back and forth. To Zuko’s concern, Aang’s head tipped backward, his eyes fluttering shut before any more could be said. 

“This meeting will have to be postponed,” said Zuko curtly, already making for the door with the unconscious Avatar bundled in his arms. 

He made a beeline for their shared bedroom, meeting the physician along the way. Aang was coming to again by the time they reached their room, and mumbled incoherently as Zuko laid him down on the bed. He seemed to be in a daze as the physician inspected him, speaking groggily and without meaning. It was quickly determined that he had a cold which had been exacerbated by his lack of rest, leading to his current predicament. Despite being assured that Aang would be better in a few days as long as he took things easy, Zuko was overcome with worry. 

Zuko was left alone with Aang soon after, and he immediately fell upon his boyfriend’s beside, clutching the man’s clammy hand in his. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?” He cried, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. 

Aang’s illness itself wasn’t what was distressing him so, although he certainly didn’t like to see Aang sick. What worried Zuko more was the fact that his boyfriend had tried to hide this from him, to carry on like nothing was wrong. It made him worry, made him wonder what else he might have missed in the past. Was Aang afraid to talk to him? Did he think Zuko wouldn’t care? Or did he simply not trust Zuko enough to rely on him? The idea that any of those might be true made Zuko’s heart ache. 

“I’m not sick,” Aang huffed again, squeezing Zuko’s hand. “The meeting...”

“Is done. All meetings are going to be postponed for the next three days, at least.”

Aang’s hazy eyes widened and he immediately made to sit up, groaning weakly when Zuko put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to stay down. “But—we have to—”

“The only thing you have to do is  _ rest _ .” Zuko insisted in a gentle tone. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

Aang’s brows pulled together and he frowned up at his boyfriend. “I don’t want to be a burden,” he rasped. 

Out of all the reasons Aang could have kept his illness to himself, this one shocked Zuko the most. To think Aang a burden was simply impossible; the man was the light of his life! There was nothing Aang could possibly need that Zuko wouldn’t be delighted to give. He would sacrifice his life with a smile on his face if it meant keeping the man he so fiercely adored happy and healthy. 

“Don’t ever say that again,” Zuko growled, raising Aang’s hand to his lips. He kissed the man’s knuckles softly, and when he pulled away there was a wetness in his eyes. “You could never be a burden to me. I’ll always be here. I’ll always take care of you, I’ll always  _ want _ to take care of you. If you ever start to think otherwise, you tell me so I can prove you wrong.”

Aang huffed out a breathy laugh and let his head fall back against the pillows. “I love you too,” he murmured as his eyes slid shut, finally giving into the desire to rest. 


End file.
